Bucking a trend among North County cities, Solana Beach last week approved a five-year extension of its contract for red-light camera enforcement.

Several San Diego County cities, including Oceanside and Vista, have terminated their red-light camera programs in the past two years citing the costs of the program and the objections of drivers.

Solana Beach unanimously approved the agreement Tuesday with Redflex Traffic Systems for about $86,000 annually with little discussion, though Council members David Zito and Jewel Edson asked for more information on the topic to be presented at an upcoming council meeting. The automated cameras monitor traffic at two intersections on Lomas Santa Fe Drive, and tickets are mailed to offenders.

“For Solana Beach, the cameras are there simply as a tool to help improve public safety,” Zito said by email Thursday. “The No. 1 concern I get from residents is about unsafe driving on our streets.”

He asked to bring the issue back for discussion at a future council meeting to give sheriff’s deputies, who were not present Tuesday, a chance to attend and address information raised in letters from out-of-town opponents of the cameras.

One of the letters was from Jim Lissner, a Hermosa Beach resident, who has fought the cameras in many California cities over the past 15 years. Lissner says the cameras seldom prevent accidents and that the statistics can be deceiving. His web site www.highwayrobbery.net is one of many with tips on ways to fight red light camera tickets.

The average fine for a red light ticket is close to $500, not counting the traffic school classes that usually are an option for drivers.

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department provided statistics to Solana Beach that show the cameras are effective.

Records show traffic accidents went from a total of 18 from 2000 through 2004, when the lights were installed, to seven from 2012 through October 2016 at the Lomas Santa Fe and Solana Hills Drive intersection, a decline of 61 percent, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

Accidents dropped from 21 to 15 at Lomas Santa Fe and Highway 101 over the same time period, a 29 percent drop, the records show. Also, the Sheriff’s Department notes, traffic has increased significantly at those intersections since the cameras were installed.

Despite such evidence of effectiveness, many cities are pulling the plug. Escondido, Oceanside, Vista, Poway, San Diego and El Cajon have ended their red-light camera programs in recent years. Only Del Mar, Encinitas and Solana Beach still use them.

Vista’s City Council voted last October to end it, citing the program’s unpopularity with residents.

“Despite the positive safety impacts, elected officials are coming under pressure from a small but vocal minority of drivers,” Redflex spokesman Michael Cavaiola said at the time about the Vista decision. “Elected officials are feeling the heat.”

Records show the San Diego Superior Court handled nearly 12,300 red-light camera tickets from July 2015 though June 2016. Solana Beach issued nearly 3,000 tickets — nearly a quarter of the red-light tickets issued in the county in that time frame.

(An earlier version of this story gave the wrong attribution for the quote by Redflex spokesman Michael Cavaiola.)